


No one can hear you scream

by FernShaw



Category: Among Us (Video Game), Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Anything is possible, But still a good chunk of them will die, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Good ending ?, M/M, Major Character Injury, Murder Mystery, Parasites, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, bad ending ?, good ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:40:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26603866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FernShaw/pseuds/FernShaw
Summary: Hornet was really excited. This was her first mission in space, and everything was meant to go perfectly well ! She had her friends, her siblings, and was sure that it would be a wonderful experience !... What could go wrong ?
Relationships: Hornet & The Knight (Hollow Knight), Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight), Quirrel/Tiso (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 92
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii ! Think that some people here are only among us fans that are curious and good news, you can read that fic without knowing the original characters !  
> Just keep one thing in mind : theses characters are bugs. That's all. Thank you and have fun reading that !

Hornet as always heard a lot about space. Going out of the planet's orbit, discovering new things in a far far away world ... It was one of her dearest dreams. Well, a lot of kids had this idea in mind. To go in space, be an astronaut and all. But ... Most never have anything to base their dreams of rather than stories in science books, fictions and tv shows but hornet truly knew what was space like. She always did. Her mother always told her about the numerous times she went to space, every time she did what other bugs considered almost impossible, the feeling of freedom and wonders ... It was a tough job. It brought her a lot of health problems after her career and at the time when she was still in missions she has to always be in extremely good shape. The selection was always very picky and anything wrong would mean that it's all over. But even with all of that in mind, she never once complained about her experience. And that's why Hornet worked so hard to do, to feel the same way her dear mother did. 

In all honesty, she could say that her family was made out of astronauts. Her father was part of the crew her mother directed for her first mission. They ... Never got along. Yeah, it was a weird thing, but they never had any good relationship whatsoever. Still, both of them wanted a child, and decided to bring Hornet to this world. Pale quickly became uninterested in his daughter when he got married soon after her birth, and got two children with his wife. And thoses were probably the only thing he did in his life that made Hornet happy. She got two wonderful siblings that she loved with all of her heart and ... The two of them followed their sister's path. The decided that becoming astronauts was something they could work with, and even ended up becoming part of the same mission as her. The two first mute bugs to go to space.

First there was Hollow, biggest of the two. They were the kind of person to look extremely powerful and aggressive at first sight, but were more gentle and kind than anything else. 

And second, her baby sibling, ghost. They were still a child yes, but that was the exact reason of why they were allowed on this expedition. This was one of the safest space expeditions of the year and the first attempt to bring a child in space. They were a bit scared but with their siblings around, nothing was impossible. 

This day was the day she would get to her first mission. Hornet was incredibly excited but couldn't help but be just a little scared. Of course. Every person who went to space for the first time was scared, and thoses who weren't were fools. But still ... It was not a nice feeling. 

As she walked into the ship, the observed everyone and took a seat silently. She knew full well who was coming with her on this expedition but... Thinking about who would she spend time with was clearly going to help her calm down. She knew everyone on this ship, and there was no reason something could go bad.

First of all, there was Ogrim. A big and strong man, perhaps a little old but still in very good shape for his age. He was clearly the most experienced of the team, he even worked with Hornet's mother years and years ago. He was the captain of this mission, and everyone knew that there was no chance he would mess it up. 

Tiso. Perhaps not the most intelligent crewmate there was, but clearly one of the most loyal. He had a strong personality and was always very protective of his boyfriend, but at least he knew how to follow orders without questioning anything.

Quirrel, Tiso's boyfriend. Probably one of the sweetest person Hornet knew. He was a physic student in the past, but after his teacher whined all the time of how good of an astronaut he would make, he decided to change his plans and never regretted his decision. Still, you could see how much his studies changed him and how useful his knowledge was to the team. A true ally. 

Shakra wasn't as old as Ogrim, but she clearly was a lot more experienced than the rest of them. It was already her fourth trip in space, and she knew how to help others in difficult situations. Plus, she really was extremely strong and could lift up any member of the crew without any difficulties. She was someone Hornet deeply respected. 

Cloth ressembled Shakra on a lot of aspects, but perhaps a little more friendly and less serious. She knew how to bring joy everywhere she went, and for a first time far from earth that was something really appreciated. 

Grimm was reassuring. But if Ogrim acted like a funny uncle, he could be considered a kind father. He was always one to be calm and sticking to the rules, but most knew how to take care of younger people and to help them get off the stress of first journeys. He already had a child that he loved very much, but that wouldn't stop him to love and take care of others for the world. Also, he really was a good magician and could dance pretty well. He would surely be a nice distraction for everyone. 

Godtamer was ... Strong. That was probably the word that would fit her the most. She had everything to be a leader, and she would probably be the captain if Ogrim wasn't obviously a best choice. She was loud, strict, but fair. She had this tendency of picking little fights and being aggressive when she wasn't okay with someone's words, but it was obvious that she never had in mind the idea of hurting anyone. 

And last of all ... Lace.  
Lace was ... Mysterious, to say the least. She was the one with the highest scores on the tests to become a trainee. She was the one that always knew the answer to everything that was asked and she was incredibly good with ideas to solve random problems. But ... She never talked to anyone outside of when it was needed for work. She was always silent, never really bounding with anyone ... But she never felt like it was something she especially wanted to do. It wasn't like she wanted to be alone, but more like she wasn't able to communicate with others. Perhaps ... This journey would help. 

"Attention to all of the crew. The ship's engines will be activated in 20 seconds. Prepare yourself for the shock wave that will follow. 20, 19..."

Hornet grabbed the edges of her seat. That was it.

The was the beginning of everything she worked for.


	2. Chapter 2

Hornet slot opened her eyes and yawned. She didn't felt like she closed her eyes in the first place. What ... Happened ?

"Oh, Hornet. Glad you finally woke up."

"Grimm...? What happened ? Did the ship got off earth...?"

"Yes, we left around 3 hours ago. You passed out after the shock wave. Are you feeling alright ?"

"Mmhhh ... My head hurts but I guess it could be worse. I suppose all of the tests and training on earth can't prepare you to that kind of thing, huh ?"

"Nope. Trust me, most of new astronauts pass out at this moment. Your siblings and Tiso did the same thing."

" ... As expected. At least I'm not the only one who passed out. Oh ... Also thanks for being here Grimm. I'm glad you stayed."

"Don't worry about that, it's not like we have a lot of things to do here right now. Here, take your suit. Everything left is just red and black."

"Mmmh I'll take the red one. I do think black suits you more."

"I would agree."

Hornet quickly went inside of her suit. It was a really thick piece of clothing that everyone was supposed to wear inside of the ship, just to be sure that no incident could kill them. If the ship was to be damaged by some kind of asteroid, the only place that the crew could be safe in without a suit would be the seats that were made for them to stay safe when the ship is using full capacity of its engine and their bedrooms. So outside of theses two spaces, the crew was meant to wear the suits everywhere. They had distinct colors for them to know who the were, because the thick piece of glass that was used to see didn't allow other to see one's face. It was made specially not to hurt one's skin after exposure to Pollux's sun that was especially powerful.

Pollux was the planet they were supposed to go to. Their tasks were simple : most of the equipment on that base had been destroyed or malfunctioning due to a lack of teams coming on the planet to take care of it. Their job was simply to make sure everything was working properly and repair what was not. It was a simple and easy mission yet really important. The base was made to help signals between ships that were coming back to earth, hundreds of ships. It was crucial to have theses communications for the ships not to crash into one another or even worse, crash on earth. 

The two bugs got out of the room in their respective suits, starting to roam around to find ... Things to do. 

On the ship, there was always a few things to check out, cleaning up the trash, destroying asteroids that were too close of the ship ... But most of the time was really boring. After all, this was not a place to have fun but to work, and it was pretty normal. 

After a good amount of time of just staring blankly at things, Hornet finally heard a little beep around the ship. Time to get some food. She was pretty hungry, and was clearly not against the idea of taking something to eat, even if space food was ... Correct to say the least. She arrived at the table and everyone was already there, apparently having small talks. Seeing that Hornet was the last crewmate to arrive, the captain decided to raise his voice in hopes of getting a conversation for everyone 

"So, how was everyone's day ?"

Tamer snickered.

"Well, mine was alright, I spent it watching space and thinking about life. On the other hand, Tiso had three different panick attacks and I'm pretty sure he puked."

"AWH COME ON TAMER YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT FAIR ! It's my first time in a ship and ... I'm still trying to adapt... It's scarier that I thought."

"Not my fault if you're a fool. Still ... It's not the worst I've seen for a newbie. Ya got that."

Hornet blinked twice before asking the obvious question she had in mind

"Why are you already asking about our day Ogrim ? It's not even the afternoon."

Everyone on the ship looked confused, but Grimm stepped to her side and gently pat her back.

"Oh Hornet, it's 7 pm. You passed out for a lot longer than you think."

Hornet blushed heavily, thankful that such thing was hidden by her helmet. Everyone still laughed, knowing what was going on in her mind. Hornet was the find of getting really embarrassed by her errors, even if theses were minors. 

The little group talked for a while in the end. It was a good time to share all kinds of stories, and a great occasion to simply let off tension. From old astronauts sharing their funny anecdotes to the newest ones simply talking about a stupid thing they did as a child, it was a great ambiance. Still Hornet couldn't help but stare at one person in particular, Lace. She was ... Simply standing here. She wasn't interacting much with others, simply listening to everything and barely reacting to it. Hornet wasn't sure why she acted like that. Social anxiety perhaps ? She always had a hard time to communicate, but this was the occasion to share her experiences. She couldn't help but hope that she would share a little bit with the others one day. 

Everyone got up after they were finished eating, simply roaming back to the rest of the ship, but Cloth was perhaps not looking exactly where she was walking. She stepped on Tamer's foot, which really scared the girl. The ant grabbed Cloth by the wrist and immediately responded in less than a second by throwing her violently on the floor. Immediately after doing that, Tamer gasped understanding what she had done just by reflex.

"Ooooh shit no no no Cloth are you alright ?!"

The cicada had a hard time to get up but seemed alright.

"I'm ... Fine. Woaw you really are powerful."

"Sorry about that ... An entire life of practicing taekwondo clearly doesn't help my shitty reflexes ... Oh wait, are you bleeding ?"

Even if no one could see cloth's face, there was a clear red mark over her glass helmet. 

"Oh yeah ... Maybe I am. Doesn't seem too bad for my, probably my lip or something."

"Hold on, I'll let bring you to my room. I have medical supplies there, it's the least I can do. Seriously, of all the things I could've done on the first day ..."

"It's nothing I said ! C'mon, let's go."

Hornet simply watched everyone finally relieved that everything was fine and going back to their tasks but quickly noticed that someone didn't move by an inch even after everyone got out. In fact, after what happened, this person didn't move at all. It was Lace. She looked ... Scared ? It was unusual. Especially for her. 

"Lace are you alright ? Is everything-"

The bug didn't answer and simply gasped before running back to her room leaving Hornet all alone without any explainations.


	3. Chapter 3

After a few seconds of reflexion, Hornet decide that following her crewmate was the best thing to do. It was probably emetophobia or something like that, but because she wasn't sure of how reacted Lace in that kind of situation. Lace was always serious and barely flinched in most of the more scary situations, so her panicking like that was really abnormal.

Hornet slowly walked towards her crewmate's room, stood in front of it for a few seconds and knocked. She heard a little bit of sobbing and decided to talk

"Hey ... Lace ? I saw that you weren't feeling good after what happened. Do you need help ? Or maybe just talk about it if you want to ?"

Hornet had a simple muffled answer

"Please ... Leave..."

She stood here for a little time and finally responded. 

"I'll come back later to check on you."

Horner walked back to her room with a little heartache, but understanding that she might want to be alone. Still, she couldn't help but feel quite lonely and stressed in this room, her mind was way too focused on her crewmate's mental state. She ended up leaving her place, and entered her sibling's room. They weren't the closest siblings in the world nor best friends but they really appreciated each other's company. They knew that together they were able to calm each other down and just staying in the same room as them always brought a nice feeling in Hornet's chest. 

"Hey you two, do you mind if I stay around you for a while ?"

Hollow pat their bed to invite her to come around. Ghost was hanging on their siblings head, holding on to their horns while they played a video game on their switch. 

"Bug tales huh ? I like that game, it's cute. Mind if I watch ?"

Hollow quickly signed to say that it was totally okay and grabbed the console back. 

The siblings ended up playing for a good amount of time, and finished by talking about how did they felt about this trip. Hollow really wasn't talkative in public, even if the whole crew learned a good amount of sign language to be able to understand them. They were more comfortable in little groups, especially with their siblings. Ghost almost never talked. They were the simple quiet type that prefered to show their emotions with physical affection. Talking seemed really hard to them but it wasn't necessary to have a good time, so they mostly sticked to Hollow all day playing around with tasks and hugging them occasionally. After that Ghost started to show signs of sleepiness, Hornet decided to leave the two of them alone and went back to Lace's room. She should've calmed down by now, and if she didn't it was pretty urgent to check if she was really okay no matter if she liked it or not. She walked towards her door and knocked once again.

"Who is it ?" 

"It's Hornet. I'm here to check on you. Please open."

The door slowly slided as Lace took a peak outside and let the spider enter the room. She sat on her bed, watching Hornet taking off her helmet as she bit her fingers a little. 

"So. Are you feeling better ? You really seemed affected by what happened last time I checked."

"I ... Guess I am. I would prefer not to go into details about what happened. For your- my own safety."

"It's understandable. Still, I think you could've mentioned that you have emetophobia to the crew, just so we help you get over your panick attacks. I know you don't see a lot of blood in space but any phobia should be mentioned just in case. We're here for you, alright ?"

"It's not ... I couldn't mention anything."

"Why not ? It's not something to be ashamed of."

"Not like that. It's very weird to explain."

"What do you mean by that ?"

"I can't tell you. I really can't have the others know about it."

Hornet took a little while to think and decided to answer.

"I am loyal to the crew, but I can respect one's secret if it is needed. And I do think you need help with your situation. So please, tell me, I swear this will stay between us."

Lace shivered, visibly very unsure. She looked at the ground awkwardly for a little amount of time before finally speaking.

"I always had a big problem with blood ... I don't know why but it scares me but ... Not in a normal way."

"A normal way ? Lace don't worry, it's normal to be scared of blood. Not everyone is but ... It's a pretty normal fear !"

"No but I'm not scared of blood like everyone is. I'm scared because of the effects of has on me."

"What do you mean by that ?"

"I- ... I'm not sure myself to be honest, it's a very weird thing and I don't know how it works. But ... When I see blood, I don't want to run or not see it, it makes me want to attack others. It makes me want to see more blood. And I'm scared because of that. I really don't want to hurt anyone, I swear ! If I'm not around you guys a lot it's not because I'm preparing a murder or anything, I just don't know how to act to make friends ... I really want to be with you all but I never know how I can act when I see blood or someone getting injured, so I prefer to ... Just stay alone."

Horney took her time to process what she had been told. Indeed, it seemed problematic. The possibility of not being able to control your actions was something everyone should be warned about but yet again ... Lace seemed like she was not the type to hurt anyone. She truly cared about the others. 

"Understood. I will not tell anyone."

"R-really ?"

"I made a promise didn't I ? I really do think you're a good person. Still I think you had a good reflex to come back into your room. If one day anything like that happens again, just pretend you have emetophobia and I'll play along, okay ?"

"Alright. T-thank you ..."

Hornet took her helmet back and was preparing herself to go back into her room but stopped herself. 

"Oh, and Lace. You know, if you need to talk to someone, I'm here. I don't care about what you want to talk about nor how you want to start the conversation. I'm not good with social situations either so... We gotta stick together between weirdos, alright ?"

Lace nodded with a sincere smile and Hornet got out of the room with a nice feeling of protection. 

Perhaps this trip would be more entertaining than she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

A few day passed on the ship and ... To say the least, everything was pretty great so far ! Yes, the days were a bit boring, but that was one of the main parts of the job that they couldn't just delete. Rare were the ones to go to space as a job, and not everything could be perfect. 

With the help of Hornet, Lace started to get more interactions with the rest of the crew. Everyone was surprised by that sudden change of heart, but clearly no one complained. Having more conversations also meant a better team work and a happiest mood for everyone. Lace was a lot more nicer than everyone expected, she just had a hard time to go seek other's presence. 

As for her little secret ... Hornet kept her word. Not only her actually having to see blood was pretty unlikely on the ship, but with how nice she was, there was no chance anything could go wrong. Her and Hornet slowly got closer with their tasks. They had similar abilities and we're often assigned to do the same things, so they hanged around a lot. Lace didn't like to talk about her much, either for her childhood, family, friendships ... It made Hornet think that she must've been pretty lonely. So instead, she told stories about her own family ! Her mother always had funny anecdotes about her trips in space, it was a nice way to learn about the dangers of it but also fun to see that things could happen and everything wasn't always so boring up here. That, and her siblings. Hornet had a loooot of siblings. She always spent a lot of time with Hollow and Ghost, but she had way too many siblings to even be able to mention them all by heart. It could look a little sad said like that, but she loved them all equally and it never mattered to her. 

And so, this day was just like any other day. Hornet and Lace were preparing a few things in the electrical part of the ship, with Hollow watching them silently as Ghost was trying to help with the cables. It was ... Pretty cute. A true teamwork.

After a little while, Lace got up without a word and left the room, leaving the siblings together to work, and came back around 20 minutes after that with more supplies. Hornet thanked her, this was definitely something they needed to work faster and it helped them a lot to finish everything. Even if Lace was more open to discussions, she apparently couldn't help but work without saying a word. Force of hold habits, Hornet guessed. 

But then, the unexpected happened. The ship's alarm went on, an alarm only used in extreme emergencies. Everyone got up, Hollow grabbed their little sibling under their shoulder and everyone went to the main room of the ship. 

"What's going on ?!"

Ogrim quickly made everyone sit, trying to keep them calm but still making very clear that this was indeed a very important situation. 

"I'm going to need you all to gather in the O2 room. We have an oxygen emergency that we might not survive if we don't fix everything."

Tamer immediately slammed the table and got up

"How can you be so fucking calm Ogrim ?! Everyone, move your asses, we're going there."

"Tamer, I need to give the instructions-"

"You can gives us the instructions THERE !! I don't care about protocols, we're going there to fix everything before spending an hour talking about details !"

The ant dashed towards the O2 room followed by the crew. Most of them knew that the captain had made what he was supposed to do by gathering everyone in the main room, but Tamer was right. Everyone had to move, fast.

The O2 room was indeed really really damaged. The parts that were controlling the level of pressure of the ship had been unsoldered on several parts. 

"Okay. NOW we can see the problem. So. What do we do now ?!"

Grimm took a few steps forward and looked closer at the machine. 

"I know what's wrong with it. We simply have to make it soldered once again and make sure the ship doesn't fall appart before we're done."

He looked at the group. 

"Lace, I know you have a good memory of where is everything in this ship. Find me a blowtorch. Everyone else, you take the levers on your right and pull them as far as you can and stay completely still like this. Ogrim, do you have any other idea ?"

"I can control the pressure on the ship's main room. I'll check everything until you're done and make sure nothing bad happens because of the oxygen loss."

"Great !"

Hornet rushed to the lever and pulled it with all of her might. It was really, really hard and demanded her a lot of power. 

"Do you think ...hgnnnn... That Lace will take long ?"

"I'm not sure. I now it's hard but you guys have to keep pulling, it's the best way to keep everything working."

Thankfully, Lace didn't take very long. She was a really fast runner and like Grimm knew, she has an extremely good memory. Everyone kept pulling with all of their forces, staring at the duo that tried to think of a way to make everything work again. And about five minutes later and a good amount of flames, Grimm chuckled and finally said the words everyone wanted to hear 

"We're out of danger everyone. You can let go of the levers now."

The sigh of relief everyone made was clearly deserved. All of their muscles hurt, but thankfully they did a good job. 

Between a few gasps, Quirrel managed to ask something. 

"I know you guys are thinking about the same thing as I do ... Can we skip the tasks for today ? I think the rush of adrenaline and the amount of energy that was needed for that made my body unable to do anything else for the rest of the day."

The voices of everyone agreeing soon rose into the room. The whole crew was exhausted. 

"You guys can leave to your rooms, I'll just inform Ogrim about it. That's deserved rest."

The group slowly left the room, but Hornet still stayed on the floor panting for a little while. She wasn't particularly weaker than the rest, but the stress really made her weak on that point. Lace stayed for a while with her and finally asked 

"Is everything alright ? I noticed you seemed ... A lot less fine than the others."

"Ah ... Ahh ... Yeah I'm alright ... Pfiew ! That was ... A lot. I'm going to lay down ... For a couple more minutes. You can just go back to your room too, you deserve some rest after the stress."

Lace pat her head and got up to leave. 

"Alright. Please take care."

She exited the room on the watch of the weaver. After a little while, she finally got enough energy back to get up, but something kept her from going back into her room immediately. She was curious about how the machine stopped functioning. Going in space was usually one of the safest things in the world so ... How did something like that happened ?

She checked the machine and ... Nothing really important really showed up. The only thing that seems unusual were a few weird marks under the melted metal but ...  
That was just her imagination... Right ?


	5. Chapter 5

Among us 5

The trip has been long but ... Here they were. The Pollux base, the core of their mission. 

The idea of going into space was already weird by itself. Not bad, but it was a weird feeling to know that you're truly lonely with your comrades. It's just you, a few people and the void. Any other living being is billions of miles away from the crew. That's ... A disturbing thought. Thankfully, they trained especially not to be scared by that kind of thing. It at least ... They thought they wouldn't be affected by it. To say the truth, Hornet was terrified. Going on another planet was exciting but ... Also scary. Yes there was already a base on the place but what if it exploded ? What if there was a problem with the oxygen ? What if-

Hornet felt something on her shoulder and almost jumped on the ground from the fear. 

"Hornet. I can see you're not fine. I never thought I would see a space suit trembling so much. What's going on ?"

"It's just ... I'm scared ... What if something goes wrong ?! What if ... What if ..."

"Oh sweetheart. It's fine to feel like that. But all of our equipment is meant to be perfect. You have nothing to fear. I was just like you in my first mission."

"Yeah, yeah, perfect... What about the O2 room ?"

Shakra paused for a little before putting her hand on hornet's shoulder.

"If I'm being honest, I do think that it was caused by someone. There was a mark on the machine."

"You saw it too ?"

"Yup. And I didn't say a thing. You know why ? Because with the tasks in O2, you're always supposed to bring a metal cutter to open up the machines and check them because they can't be opened manually. If you want my opinion, someone's hand ripped and accidentally damaged something. And because they were too ashamed, they either left it out thinking that it was nothing and hoping no one would notice, or gave the alert without saying that they did it because I would say, it is quite shameful."

That ... Would actually make a lot of sense. Hornet started to remember what happened and ... Yes, that probably was a good explanation. That would explain the mark ... Marks ? Where there multiple marks ? She doesn't actually remember. But either way, she thinks that Shakra is probably right. 

"So ... You think that there is truly no danger out here ?"

"I mean... I never went on Pollux, I never checked it by myself. But trust me, I doubt that our country would spend billions and billions of geos only for this mission to have a possibility to fail. You're just panicking because you know ... Space and stuff. I was just like you on my first mission ! You shouldn't worry too much... Instead, try to focus on things you're curious about ! That was the advice Grimm gave me and truly, it helped."

Hornet nodded and started to think before being interrupted by chuckled coming from a corner of the corridor.

"Awh ... Shakra, I didn't think you'd actually keep my advices in mind ! What, do you idolise me so much ?"

"Mmmh ... No I wouldn't say that. But since the beginning of our missions with Cloth you kinda acted like a dad to us."

"A dad, huh ? That doesn't look so bad. Come and give papa Grimm a good hug before we have to prepare for the landing~"

The two girls didn't think twice. The rushed towards the man in a black suit and hugged him deeply. That was ... Reassuring. Grimm really was a good person, someone that knew how to calm the crew. Even if Ogrim was an extremely good captain and very friendly, Hornet couldn't help but prefer Grimm's calm and sweet attitude. She guessed that being a father helped him get this desire to keep everyone safe. That was nice. Speaking of Ogrim, soon after the hug was finished, his voice was heard throughout the ship's speakers. 

"Everyone, it is time ! I would like you all to gather info the landing room, unless you're interested in being covered with bruises." 

The little groups looks at each other, nods and quickly goes to the landing room. Pretty much everyone was already in their seats, except Tiso and Quirrel. Hornet took place in a seat between Lace and Shakra, looking around to see 

Thankfully, both of the two missing crewmates came a little bit of time after, visibly a little bit stressed

"Where were you two ? I was worried."

"Oh shut up Tamer, we know you were not and you knew exactly what we were doing."

Tamer laughed and it only left the rest of the group with even more confusion. Hornet decided to ask the obvious. 

"Even if Tamer knows, we don't. What happened ?"

"We were kissing in Tiso's room and Tamer thought it would be hilarious to block us inside by locking the door. It was funny when it happened, a lot less when we heard the announcement and had to find a way out by ourselves."

Tamer didn't stop laughing as the two boys got on their respective seats, blushing heavily. Ogrim ended up laughing too, but in a lot less mocking way. 

"Oh, don't be that shy boys. At your age I did the same thing with my wife ! I got into a lot of trouble for doing it just before the landing, but it was worth it. Though I'm pretty sure Pale never forgave me for that one."

The mood quickly turned back to calm and friendly after that. Hearing stories about old times always helped the crew chill. Well everyone, except Hornet. She still had this uneasy feeling like an alarm in her head, making her terrified about the landing. She was so stressed out that she almost didn't hear Lace asking her if she was alright. 

"Huh ? Y-Yeah ... I'm fine. Just have a little stress and all ... Normal stuff."

"Do you want to hold my hand ?"

Hornet looked quickly at everyone and sighed with a smile

"That would be appreciated."

She grasps her crewmate's hand, and takes a deep breath as she hears the alarm of the ship indicating the landing would be really soon. The mission would finally begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Pollux. Finally, they were on another planet. It was a special feeling, a fix of freedom and terror. 

When Hornet took her first step out on the planet's ground, she thought she was going to cry, either of joy or of fear. But she didn't. She simply took a deep breath, trembled and that was it. Her first step that was completely outside of earth. She looked around to see the base, trying to remember everything they were taught during the lessons about the mission. It was a base mainly made out of metal that was about 3 miles long, mainly without any protection for oxygen to come but with a few places where you could get off your helmet, being the experiments room. A few of the constructions were made to grow out plants for two reasons : to get easy access to a huge amount of oxygen just in case something goes wrong with someone's suit, and to see how plants would develop in space. It was also a good place to relax whenever someone was done with their tasks. 

After everyone got better with their emotions, they turned around to face the captain and ask him a few questions. 

"Alright Ogrim, what's the plan ?"

"Mmmh let's see... We have 10 days on this planet before the ship goes back on and bring us back to earth, but I asked the commanders to give us more time than usual mainly because this was the first mission in space for some of us. Today is a pretty free day I would say. Everyone gets to decide if they want to spend some time wandering around to get used to the base, stay in their room to calm down after the emotions or simply do as many tasks as possible so that they get to do nothing at the end of the trip when everyone will rush everything."

Tiso chuckled and looked at his boyfriend. 

"I'm up for the second option, I'd love to see everyone freaking out in the last few days and me relaxing because I have nothing else to do. Y'a comin' Quirrel ?"

"I'm ... Feeling a little dizzy right now. I think it's the atmosphere, I thought the training would make me used to that much pressure but ... Apparently no."

"Awh man... Well see ya, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up."

He didn't wait for anyone else to say a word before rushing towards his tasks. Hornet simply thought for a moment before turning around to her siblings. 

"I think I'll try to work on the transmission room, it looks like the most difficult thing I have to do here and the most urgent. It's better for ships to have good communication so that hey don't crash with each other. What about you two ?"

Hollow nodded, looked at their little sibling, pat their head, looked back at Hornet and quickly started to sign.

"Ghost is a little stressed. They're feeling dizzy. I think it's better if we stay in our room until they get better. We'll try to catch up in the transmission room, I also have tasks there and I'm sure Ghost would love to see you work. You know they're fascinated by buttons and machines."

"Alright ! I'll keep the asteroid destruction for last, I'm sure they'll love playing with it. See ya !"

Ghost waved as they walked away sitting on their sibling's shoulder. Everyone quickly went on several directions on the base to do their respective tasks, each one on their corner. Being all alone felt a little weird for Hornet but she wasn't against a little time for herself. She started humming on the way towards her tasks, thinking of way to distract herself while doing everything. She had to check numbers on a computer, verify the viability of transmissions, check the radars and the images the base was creating and how were they transmitted to the ships and finally check the buttons one by one to see if they were still perfectly working. It was hard work, but most of it didn't ask for a lot of concentration and she liked doing little things on the side. 

She entered the safe space going through the sass of depressurisation and immediately got her mask off. It wasn't particularly uncomfortable for her, but still having her head out to breathe was a bonus she wasn't going to ignore. She gets through the plants section, goes to the computer and starts checking numbers lazily. Being without her sibling nor Lace made her feel pretty lonely but she'll get used to it somehow. She ends up taking hours checking the numbers and decides to take a small nap on the room. The landing exhausted her more than she thought, and she did work pretty well so ... It was deserved. Plus, who could even blame her ? 

She closes her eyes and slowly drifts away, her head filled with the nice feeling of freedom this place brought her. She felt her body getting lighter and lighter, slowly getting into sweet dreams until- 

The emergency alarm  
It blasts off, making her whole body jolt and waking her up with pure confusion. What's that sound ?! Why is it so loud ?! Why now ?! Wait. That was the extreme emergency alarm. What could even happen to need this to be started ???

She blinks and yawns, but no matter what's going on there's no time to loose. She rushes toward her helmet, puts it back on, leaves the rest of her stuff on the ground and starts running outside the building. She feels like her oxygen is running low, but she doesn't care. If anything is going on at this moment her suffocating for a few seconds was the last of her worries.

Finally, after a dozen of minutes, she entered the main room of the ship, gasping for air but here in what seemed a relatively good amount of time. She looks around, and everyone seems missing. Everyone except one person. And she knows that they should already be here. 

"... What happened to-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I left you with a cliffhanger and you all hate me  
> But here's a fun fact : the first murder was made in electrical <3


	7. Chapter 7

"What happened to-"

"Cloth is in Quirrel's room. We found her unconscious in electrical and he's examinating her to try to find out what's the problem."

"I- ... I see."

Hornet was relieved. Even if the meeting seemed a little awkward due to the obvious tension, nothing too bad happened. This meeting was obviously here to either warn them about a possible illness that was brought into the ship, meaning that they would have to be careful, or to know a possible physical weakness of Cloth that could cause her some problems. Weirdly enough, she went through all of the health tests without even the slightest problem. Maybe a pregnancy ? It would be really unexpected since she didn't have a lover, but that was the most plausible option. 

After a little awkward wait, Quirrel stood up and got back to his room. The tests he did were probably over at that time. He came back into the reunion and sat back, his whole body trembling. 

"So, what happened Quirrel ? Did you find anything that might look like a virus ? If that's the case we'll have to quarantine her."

"That's not..."

Tiso looked at his boyfriend

"That probably was just the lack of sleep dude. She probably she just fell down on the floor because not matter how much you try, you never get enough rest on our damn beds. Having to literally be attached to our mattresses while sleeping is horrible."

"It's not ... Like that..."

Horner started to feel a little worried.

"Please Quirrel. Tell us what's going on."

Quirrel suppressed a sob and tried to get off his mouth what he had on heart. 

"Cloth i-isn't with us anymore. She ... She passed away."

The silence in room was unbearable, but was ended by Tamer who slammed her first on the table 

"What do you mean she fucking passed away ?! What the fuck even happened ?!"

Quirrel started trembling heavily, not sure of how he could explain such thing. 

"She... She's dead. Cloth's dead."

That answer clearly didn't satisfied the lady who just yelled again. 

"Yeah I think we all fucking get that !! I mean WHAT HAPPENED THAT COULD KILL A TRAINED AND PERFECTLY HEALTHY ASTRONAUT JUST LIKE THAT ?!"

Quirrel cracked and started crying uncontrollably. It was too much for him. Hornet simply watched the scene in shock, not sure of what to do in this situation. She was trained to get ready for the worst but ... Not matter how good the training was, having to deal with the loss of a friend was clearly beyond a simple most of actions and emotions that you should or should not feel. 

Tiso got up and walked towards his boyfriend, giving him a good hug and pats on the back. He obviously wasn't sure of how to react either, but trying to help his boyfriend calm down and let him explain what happened exactly for everyone to know the details. After a few minutes he finally got to calm down a little, at least enough to be able to explain what happened. He took a deep breath, hugged his boyfriend one last time and looked at the crew

"Cloth was brought to me after being found laying down seemingly unconscious in electrical. The fact is ... When she was brought to my room, she was already dead. I- ... At first I tried to gather everyone to say that she wasn't with us anymore but because the word of her being simply unconscious spread I didn't have the heart to simply say that. I came here, got a few tests for the virus started, waited for everyone to gather and then got back to the room to see the results... That's everything that happened."

Sobbing started to fill the room more and more. Hornet, once again, just sat here and watched, before finally noticing that she was crying as well. But after a while, she stopped herself and noticed something. Lace ... Wasn't crying. She simply stared at Quirrel, froze in a distant manner, like unable to react. This was ... Extremely strange. But her thoughts were cut by hearing Ogrim.

"Listen ... I know this probably doesn't look like the time to speak of that in details, but I feel like this do need to be addressed. Quirrel, was there virus that infected her or is the cause of death something else ?"

Grimm sighed and nodded.

"Sorry Quirrel, we all are in pain because of what happened to her, but he's right. It is crucial for us to know if there's a deadly virus in the ship, it could be vital for all of us."

Quirrel sniffed and shivered before responding

"Yeah I understand ... No. I did all of the tests we had in stock for viruses, but it seems that the cause wasn't viral at all. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I'm thinking of electrocution. She apparently was working on wires and making a small mistake would be fatal if anything wasn't protected correctly. That or ... Perhaps an aneurysm. Or heart attack. Anything that could come without a warning and couldn't be predicted. I really don't have any other idea ..."

Ogrim clapped his hands for everyone to listen. 

"I'm going to ask you all to focus on your mental health and take some time for yourself. This is a important situation and I do think that forcing yourselves to stay strong would be a grave mistake. I will not give you any deadline for a recovery, for obvious reasons. For today you all are dismissed, and I will work on everyone's tasks to make sure you won't have too much to do. Try your best for the mission, but take paused whenever you need it. That would be all. As for the body ..."

He looked a Quirrel who obviously felt like he was going to go back to tears 

"I'm going to take care of it. Quirrel, if you don't mind, I will put you under Tiso's surveillance. I do think this event is way too traumatic for you to stay alone tonight, and going back to your own room could put yourself in a really bad situation."

And with that, the captain got up and walked towards the young boy's room. The crew started to gather in small groups, discussing about what just happened. Most of the group was still in shock, and Hornet's first reflex was to wall towards her siblings. Hollow was trying to calm down Shakra who was tearing up between their arms, and Ghost simply looked around confusedly, trying to understand what happened. They were young. They probably didn't knew much. And even at their age understanding a sudden death was probably difficult. She looked at hollow quickly and they responded with signing very slowly 

"I'm scared, Hornet." 

She gasped and hugged her baby sibling. She was scared too. Everyone was scared and lost. Ghost hugged their sister back tightly, trying to comfort her even if they didn't understand much. She finally let go and pat their head before turning around and noticing something ... 

Lace wasn't there. 

She looked at hollow, pat their back and said 

"I'll go visit you into your room soon. I have something to do first."

She walked off the room, and sighed.  
Something bad was going on.


	8. Chapter 8

Lace was never acting normally in this crew. Lace was rarely reacting in an appropriate manner, to be fair. But this time was just too much

There was no way she could simply stand there and hear about the death of someone without even moving by an inch. Hornet didn't hear her sob, cry or even talk during the whole meeting, when everyone else was melting down and barely standing still.

Maybe this was rage, or simply her desire to get explainations, but Hornet simply couldn't control herself anymore. Each of her steps was heavy, filled with a strange rage that she never felt before. She followed her crewmate until she get to her bedroom and knocked aggressively on the door. 

Lace opened it in seconds, but barely let any space for Hornet to see her. 

"Why are you here."

"I need to talk to you."

"Leave me alone. I need to stay alone."

"No. I want to talk to you NOW."

The white lady tried to close the door but hornet stopped it and opened it fully violently before entering the room and closing it behind her. Lace was against one of the walls, her helmet off, staring at the spider with the straightest face she could make. 

"What is it. Tell me, fast."

"Oooh if anyone is giving orders here, it's me. Now. Tell me how can you stay so calm after someone got murdered."

"I have a hard time expressing my feelings through my facial expressions and body language. That's all. Now leave."

She was starting to tremble heavily, visibly very uncomfortable. But Hornet clearly wasn't convinced.

"I'm not finished. I'm now going to ask you how am I supposed to think you didn't do anything to Cloth after you made it very clear to me that you can literally have breakdowns that makes you want to hurt others."

Lace's breathing started to get heavier, but she kept her straight face. 

"I didn't do anything. There was nothing that could've triggered me to attack her. I not only al innocent but affected by Cloth's death just as much as everyone is."

"No. I want you to give me actual reasons to make me think that you couldn't have killed her !"

"I said it before ! I'm only triggered by blood and there wasn't any on the body !!"

"How can you know that, Quirrel was the one who did the body's examination !?"

"BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND HER !"

Horner froze as Lace started to melt in tears. She didn't mean to yell. She didn't mean to be aggressive. She was just scared and ... She didn't want to believe it either. She couldn't stop sobbing, her mind was already starting to drift away from her body, completely overwhelmed with emotions. She was so used to show nothing. It was hard, so hard to be like that, helpless, unable to stop herself from looking so ... Weak. After a good amount of time, she ended up trying to explain the situation between her sobs. 

"I was ... I had a task in electrical and I just found her laying down like that and ... And ... I just didn't know what to do so I brought her to Quirrel because ... I knew he ... He ... Hell, I'm even loosing my words !! He had experience with illnesses because his mom's a doctor and I just left her like that because I thought nothing bad would happen that it was just ... Normal. Like nothing bad happened, because it wouldn't be the first time someone just passes out of a ship. Right ? Right ?! I was dumb, so dumb ... I should've checked her vitals. Maybe I could've done something. Maybe if only I was in the place sooner, I-"

"Lace. Stop."

Lace trembled and cried even louder hearing theses words. She couldn't take it anymore. 

Hornet felt like she did more bad than good saying that and started to feel worried. She didn't know what to do. She ... Never really experienced that kind of sadness before, that kind of stress of loosing someone but ... Finding the body ? And not even understanding what was going on ? That was probably so much worse ...

So she started crying too. She didn't realised how much she held theses tears. It was probably because she didn't realize that ... That was it. The end. Cloth was dead and she would never come back. She wanted someone to take the blame. And she thought she could let out her rage on Lace, blame her but ... Not only this was toxic and wrong, but Lace also needed emotional support at this instant, probably more than Hornet herself. 

The spider simply ended up hugging her crewmate. A simple gesture, with no words to aggravate the situation. "I'm sorry." "Please don't cry" "I don't want you to be sad". So many messages getting through this simple gestures that she made out of desperation.

And thankfully, it worked. The two of them slowly calmed down with each other's presence, slowly getting used to this numb feeling of desperation. They knew they weren't fine. And they probably wouldn't be until quite a while. But they needed such contact to at least get to a better state. The hug ended a bit awkwardly with the two of them staring at each other. And Hornet ended up breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry. I've been unfair. You deserve better."

"... It's fine. I would've been suspicions too if I was in your position."

"No. I completely forgot that Quirrel mentioned the lack of injuries during the meeting and I should've remembered such thing."

"He mentioned that ?"

"Yes. Don't you remember ? He said that she either died of electrocution or of an internal problem like a heart attack."

"Oh ... I spaced out during the whole meeting free he announced what happened. I just was too much in shock and wasn't able to listen to the rest."

Hornet suddenly understood why she was acting so calm during that time. She simply wasn't even concious during that meeting. 

"Wait-" 

Lace suddenly out her hand on her mouth with a gasp and looked at the ground horrified. 

"What's going on ?"

"He said electrocution or internal problem right ?? But ... Think about it. When I saw her, her suit was intact. No way electricity could've gone through. And we're trained to recognise symptoms of strokes and heart attack, if she had anything sudden she would've obviously tried to get help."

"That ... That does make a lot of sense actually. But I don't see your point."

"Listen. If she didn't have any external injuries, there is only one way I can see her dying. A vital part of the body being damaged violently, like maybe the neck broken in quickly to make it look like nothing happened"

"... A-are you suggesting-"

"Yes. What I'm saying is that this does not look like an accident. I think Cloth was murdered."

"But- ?! By who ?!"

"One of us."


	9. Chapter 9

Waking up that day was ... Stressful. Just really, really stressful.  
Hornet and Lace were the only two of the crewmates to know that ... There was definitely a killer among them. It was a very specific feeling, perhaps a little too difficult to describe. Very intense but it had to be hidden. Because even the smallest weird move could warn the imposter that they were aware of it.   
They made a plan to work together to gather clues. Simple, but a good strategy. 

The two girls talked about it for quite a while that night. At first, none of them wanted to believe that someone killed Cloth. Of course. No one wants to believe that not only they list a friend, but also that one of their other friends did it. But still, it was pretty obvious that it couldn't be a coincidence. Cloth had nothing known by doctors that could endanger her life, and having everyone scattered around the base was a perfect occasion to kill someone. That, and the sabotage. Because yes, knowing that information, the incident that happened before on the ship was definitely sabotage. 

Hornet spent her whole day working on the base with all of her might. She knew that working hard was a good idea because not only it helped the ones who needed some rest, but also because going into multiple areas was a good way to get possible clues. A perfect crime doesn't exist, right ? Everyone would leave clues behind, anything that could help them being identified. 

But still ... Nothing. Hornet looked everywhere, and nothin interesting was left behind. It's pretty simple to understand why. She wasn't a detective at all, and there way too many suspects to begin with. When she came back to Lace, she didn't hope for any better on her side. And ... 

"Nothing."

"We should've seen that coming."

The two ladies came in the plant space of the ship the discuss the situation. One of the rare times they had to remove their helmets.

"I guess. Maybe I was too focused on looking for things that would help us, but without any alibis nor any idea of where people were during that time, so I think we're doomed on that one."

"And ... What can we do ?"

Lace closed her eyes for a second and started thinking. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't have many ideas. It's not like I've dealt with a dead person before, let alone a killer. For now I think that the best is to finish a ton of tasks, I'll even try to work at night if that's necessary. And once we're done with everything, we'll put people in groups to stop anything from happening. Just, find dumb excuses like saying to Ogrim that we need to stick together because after what happened we shouldn't stay alone. Not only it looks legit, but I truly think it might be the best for us. We're not coping like anyone would on earth."

Hornet stared at the lady and smiled. 

"You truly think like a captain."

"... Anyone could do that."

"Maybe. But right now, it is quite admirable."

Suddenly, a noise. Coming from behind. Both ladies shivered and looked to see what it was only to find a fairly confused Tiso. 

"What are you guys doing ...?"

Hornet felt her body tremble for a little while searching for an answer, but Lace responded first.

"We did a lot of tasks today and we thought we deserved a break. We were talking about the whole situation ... Hornet isn't feeling good about it and she needed to tell her feelings to someone."

"Oh ! Welp ... I get that. I was trying to gather opinions on it, to be fair."

"What do you mean ?"

Tiso sighed and sat next to the duo

"Quirrel has been feeling really down. He tries to hide it but to be fair, he's not really good at it. And I am not good at all either. I wanted to deny it but I think this is way too much for me. I wanted to gather opinions to see if others would've liked to cut this mission short too."

"You think not finishing it would be a good thing ?"

"Yeah I kinda do. You two look like you're doing alright but I feel like everyone else is too disturbed to do things correctly. Shakra has been really stressed and walked in a weird way this morning. Hollow and ghost spend their time together in their room and don't even talk anymore. Even Grimm doesn't talk about his kid anymore ... Usually he never shuts up about it ! Seriously, I feel like everyone's a mess."

Hornet thought a little. This was perhaps a good thing. She didn't think that aborting the mission was a good idea in itself but if there was a killer between them, the safest thing to do would be to come back at home quickly.

"Tiso, do you think Ogrim would accept to think about it ? You don't need to talk about this with everyone if you think the situation is an emergency. Just go ask him directly, he'll listen if you think he needs to learn about it."

"Y-Yeah you're right ! Thank you Hornet, I'll go right now !"

Lace and Hornet looked at each other with a sigh of relief 

"We'll follow."

Finally. A solution


	10. Chapter 10

"Ogrim ! We need to talk to you !"

The small group arrived in the main room of the ship where Ogrim was making coffee to drink in his room.

"Oh ! Umh ... Is something going on?"

Tiso took the lead and with a deep breath told what he had on the heart. 

"Ogrim. I know it's a first mission for some of us and that it's really important for everyone but ... I think it would be better to end it as soon as possible. Pretty much no one on this ship can deal with everything going on right now. We can't cope, can't work and we're all suffering. Plus if we force ourselves to work like that, not only we will end up getting hurt but we might also do mistakes."

Ogrim took his coffee silently in hand and stared at the ground. 

"... I guess you're right. I'm not sure if I can do much but ... Let me take my coffee and contact the base. Stay here, I'll come back in a few minutes."

The captain left the room with a sigh and everyone simply sat at the table. And now, all they could do was hope and wait. After a little while, another bug arrived in the room. 

"Yo. Why the fuck is everyone gathered here ? I thought we were supposed to do our tasks or stay in our rooms." 

It was Tamer.

"Hey Tamer. I just asked Ogrim if we could try to end this mission. It's too much of a mess in my opinion and I think it's stupid to just continue it."

The ant snorted and slowly rubbed her hand against Tiso's helmet. 

"Welp. Looks like you might have more braincells than I thought huh ? That's a pretty good idea. Everyone has been kinda fucked up. I certainly did not expect this mission to be such a fiasco."

Hornet chuckled with only a half smile and a little wave of sadness. 

"I didn't think that my first mission would end up with trauma and someone being aliven't when we come back."

Everyone started laughing at the spider's comment, which clearly helped to lighten up the mood. It was good to see that everyone could still smile after everything. And the fun lasted a little while... Until Ogrim came back. 

"Oh ! Captain ! What do you have for us ?"

"... I'm sorry Tiso." 

Suddenly, the joyful mood disapeared to leave a silence. 

"I contacted the base ... They're okay for everyone to stop working from now on and will allow us around 6 months of rest before we go back in space. But the main problem is the ship ... We can't activate it manually, and it was programmed to get off the planned after 10 days, no more no less. We simply can't leave until the date that was programmed originally."

Hornet bit her lips nervously. That was ... Bad. If no one worked, then everyone would be free to roam around without any suspicions. And with that, another could kill others without being suspected, at least not after a good amount of murders. 

"What's going on here ?"

Everyone turned around to see Quirrel standing at the door, holding a pillow between his arms. 

"Quirrel ! We were umh ... Talking with Ogrim. We have the authorisation to stop working from now on and simply rest until the end of the mission."

Quirrel had the biggest sigh of relief, and even if no one could see his face it was easy to imagine how glad he was. Ogrim thought a little before announcing :

"I think we should try to look out for the others and tell them about it. It will probably be for the best."

Suddenly, steps in the corridors. Someone was running. Everyone looked at the door to see Hollow huffing, trying to keep their composure. Hornet was glad to see them but was a little worried. Why would they run like that ? 

"Hi Hollow ! Did something happen ?"

The way they moved their hands was way too fast to be read properly by the team. But a few things could be understood. 

"Come. Quick. Bad. Very bad. Scared."

None of the crewmates questioned their actions. They simply followed the giant bug as they ran back to where they came from. They seemed quite in a hurry. 

... And once they saw it, they understood why. 

Inside of the machine's room, blood. Everywhere. It was nothing like they could've imagined in their worst nightmares. Blood on the walls, on the floor, over the machines ... and in the middle of everything, was what they could only assume was a corpse. 

It didn't look like anything they knew, just a mangled organs and a mass of destroyed muscles laying on the ground. The colour of the suit is what made them understood who this was. Shakra. 

Shakra was dead. 

...

No. 

Shakra was murdered.


End file.
